In the minors: Corporate sponsors get their due

In the minors: Corporate sponsors get their due by Chris Olds

June 8, 2009, 10:56 am
Filed under: In the minors, MLB, Topps | Tags: baseball, baseball cards, In the minors, MILB, Milwaukee Brewers, minor league baseball, MLB, Prince Fielder

Some collectors who recently found a Tim Lincecum video game cover card in 2009 Topps Series 2 and complained about it probably don’t realize that down in the minors there’s a lot more advertising to be found on cardboard.

On minor league cards, you’ll often find advertiser logos on cards alongside team logos. You’ll often find individuals with ties to those companies on their own cards. You’ll often find coupons in team sets.

One classic example is above — a Prince Fielder 2005 Nashville Sounds card with a Shone’s logo alongside his team notation. Some baseball purists might be aghast seeing such a thing. Some fans might consider it to be apropos for a minor league team considering that there are dozens of ads to be seen at a minor league ballpark.

I like it because I just know Fielder’s been to a Shoney’s … or two.

Here’s a look at just a few other sponsors can be found on cards in the minors …

You’ve probably never heard of Anthony Roberts or Peter W. Johnson but they have their own card in the 2005 Salt Lake Stingers set from Multi-Ad Sports. Why? Their company, Utah Venture Capital, is one of the team’s sponsors — along with Kid Internet, which has an ad on the card.

That team, now known as the Salt Lake Bees, also tried another corporate sponsor the following season, The Truth, which had its logo on every card and this is how the team’s checklist looked.

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When Smokey The Bear appears on every card in your team’s set, you can expect that he’ll make an appearance on a card. That he did in the 2006 Alexandria Aces team set.

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Larry Ward, “The Voice” of the Chatanooga Lookouts (don’t believe us, just look at the card) had his own baseball card a few years ago. While many teams will include their announcers and others in the organization (more to come on that later), this one’s sponsored by Hardee’s.

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The San Angelo (Texas) Colts landed a different type of sponsor for their 2006 card set — Sports Maniac Cards and Collectibles. That’s right, a card shop sponsors the cards. In fact, it looks like it’s worked as this year’s set will also be sponsored by the shop when it hits collectors’ hands on Aug. 1.

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But sponsorship doesn’t often stop with a logo. In fact, we know of several team sets that have included coupons through the years as well as advertisement cards. Here are four (click for a closer look):

While that’s all for now, there’s always more to be found In the Minors.

See some other related stories below…

AND WHILE YOU’RE HERE, CHECK OUT THESE ITEMS …

In The Minors: Mascot cards run rampant in minor league team sets

In The Minors: Maybe you’ve heard of me?

In The Minors: Are some cards really going to the dogs? Yep.

Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.

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